Wow! What a week! As a new practitioner, and a young one at that, I was a little nervous about the input I would have to offer and the role I would be able to play on the Commission on Affiliate Relations (COAR), but I need not have worried. After an orientation with Kasey Thompson, COO of ASHP, to lay out the week, we had a welcome network reception where ASHP President Kelly Smith encouraged us to go all in “#4ourpatients.” As I was introduced to my fellow members of the COAR by chair Lorrie Burns, everyone was welcoming and expressing excitement to hear my perspective at our discussions throughout the week. After dinner out in Bethesda together, we finally made it back to the hotel to get some rest before our busy day the next day, and we sure needed it.
Tuesday morning we had a legislative update over breakfast, then proceeded to break out into our respective Councils and Commissions to get to work. I was soon experiencing the hard working yet fun nature of the COAR and learning how to avoid groupthink by way of the devil’s advocate “pitchfork.” (I definitely learned ways to effectively facilitate discussions and ensure everyone has an equal voice.) Much of our agenda was confidential in nature while we were reviewing petitions for reaffiliation, but it was neat to be exposed to all the different structures of governance and great work the different state affiliates are putting into practice, all while learning a lot about how much work goes into moving practice forward at the national organization level. After a break for lunch and the annual William A. Zellmer lecture award, this year by ISMP president Michael Cohen, we had a productive afternoon of meetings, wrapping up in time for the evening’s reception. At the reception I was able to catch up with several folks I met during my time at ASHP as a student pharmacist, as well as meet many more. The world of pharmacy really is smaller than I ever realized!
Thursday kicked off with a joint meeting of all the Council and Commission members after breakfast. The topic was Suicide Prevention, and we were called to action in recognizing that this is a mental health emergency. Guest presenter Dr. Daina Wells discussed her experiences in developing suicide prevention training within the VA/DOD and provided recommendations for patient prevention. Amidst the great conversations being had the discussion soon grew to encompass preventing suicide among students, residents, and all caregivers. Each Council and Commission then had a breakout meeting to further discuss. Throughout the remainder of the day, the COAR discussed affiliate recognition, a resiliency and wellbeing toolkit for state affiliates, assessing PAI grant utilization by state affiliates, technician engagement, and many other topics. It was incredible to be able to participate in conversations at the national level and know my voice was an important part of the effort to continue strengthening state affiliates.
And of course, how could I skip over legislative day! The ASHP Government Affairs Office coordinated an awesome day for us on the Hill on Wednesday. We departed Bethesda at 6:30 am to make it to the hill in time for a brief address and morning appointments. Advocacy has been important to me since my first experiences as a student pharmacist at ASHP’s Student Advocacy Training and Legislative Day, and I was glad I had those experiences to fall back on and be confident going into meetings with my Senators/Representative and their staff. It’s so empowering to take real life experiences with patients and advocate on their behalf, touching on points from drug shortages and rising drug costs to the opioid epidemic and the role we as pharmacists can play. It’s amazing to remember how much our elected officials rely on hearing from us to inform them of the challenges we face as health-system pharmacists and ideas we have. Talking about the role I play in caring for my patients all day also energized me to come home and get back to taking care of them!
Looking back, my first experience with the COAR, or at least the idea of it, came as an APPE student while on rotation at ASHP headquarters with Beverly Black, who was the director of affiliate relations at that time. I learned about the affiliation process, how it differs from having local chapters, and the overall purpose of the COAR to advise the ASHP Board of Directors on standards for affiliation, implementation of the standards, methods of strengthening affiliates, and methods of building affiliate relationships that help advance ASHP’s objectives. At the time, Beverly mentioned how much they value their New Practitioner and student members and encouraged me to consider applying at some point in the future. However, having the opportunity to serve as a voting member was even more rewarding than I could have expected. While our agenda items to review comprised of thousands of pages, it was totally worth it! I had the opportunity to build connections with strong leaders from several states through my colleagues on the COAR. It was incredible to hear about our members overall career journey and leadership experiences within their states. I need not have worried about feeling qualified for my role; I had an equal voice, especially when we started talking about engaging New Practitioners, resiliency and wellness, and suicide prevention. And we had a ton of fun on the COAR, from developing a cheer to passing the pitchfork. I am so glad I had the courage to apply for this opportunity, and I encourage other New Practitioners to consider applying when the call for recommendations opens in September!